The disclosure relates generally to the field of exercise equipment in which a movable carriage is moved against a resistance force to exercise one or more muscles of the body. Such devices are commonly referred to as reformers.
Reformers are a type of exercise machine originated by Joseph Pilates. A traditional reformer can have a frame supporting two parallel tracks along which a wheeled carriage can travel. Springs or other resistance members can be used to a resiliently bias the carriage towards one end of the frame. A user typically sits or lies on the carriage and pushes against a foot bar to move the carriage away from the foot bar. Alternatively, the user can grasp the ends of a pair of ropes or straps that pass through pulleys on the frame and are attached to the carriage to move the carriage along the tracks.
US Patent Application Publication US 2014/0141948 A1 (the '948 Publication) to the inventor of the present exercise device, Judith Aronson, discloses a Pilates reformer. This application discloses a reformer with a seat that can be elevated. However, an improved means for elevating a seat is required. Further, the '948 Publication fails to provide a solution to changing the rope length and finely adjusting comparative rope length to compensate for stretching in one of a rope pair. What is needed, is an exercise machine that is easy to use, by providing mechanisms that allow the user to easily change the machine's configuration as the user moves seamlessly from one exercise to another.